Line leveling fishing reel



March 15, 1938. F MV GRlETEN 2,111,447

' LINE`LEVELING FISHING REEL Filed April 14, 1937 Patented Mar. 15, 1938 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

The invention forming the subject matter of this application relates to fishing reels generally, and more particularly to that class ofshing reels in which provision is made for evenly distributing 5 or laying a fishing line on the spool of the reel during the Winding thereof by mechanism connecting the manually operated crank of the reel to the spool.

The invention is primarily intended for use on l large reels, wherein the pull on the line is frequently as much as two hundred pounds. In the reels of the prior art, the reel is mounted in Xed position on the rod, and the line is moved laterally of the spool in the operation of distributing the l line evenly on the spool. This methodr of level winding is fairly satisfactory in the case of small reels, where the tension on the line is not very great, and the angle of pull of the line relative to the axis of the spool does not materially affect the operation of the reel.

The main object of the present invention is tol provide a fishing rod with a reel mounted thereon to slide laterally thereof during the winding of the line, so as to maintain the pull of the line substantially at right angles to the axis of the spool, and substantially in the plane passing through the axis of the rod.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent as the detailed description thereof proceeds.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a broken side elevation of a fishing rod having a reel mounted thereon, and constructed in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2--2 of Figure l; and

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 2.

As shown in the drawing, the invention comprises a rod 4 provided with clamping rings 5 and 6 adapted to slide on said rod over the toes 1 and 8 of a base 9 designed to support the reel desighated generally by the reference numeral I0. The base 9 has its opposite side edges cast or otherwise formed to provide anges I I and I2 inclined toward each other to form a dovetailed groove adapted to receive slidably a plate I3 secured at its opposite ends by screws I4 to the housings I5 and I6 of the reel I0.

The supporting plate I3 is provided at its opposite edges with flanges I1 and I8 inclined at the same angle with respect to plate I3 as the flanges II and I2 are inclined relative to the reel base 9. In effect, these flanges I1 and I 8 constitute a dovetail tongue slidable in the dovetail groove (Cl. l13--22) formed by the flanges II and I2. The distance between the flanges I1 and I8, however, is less than the distance between the flanges I I and I2,

in order to accommodate a gib I9 which may be used for the purpose of regulating the frictional 5 contact between the aforesaid tongue and groove. This regulation is effected by a machine screw 20 threaded into an aperture formed in the flange II, and provided with a stud 2| projecting into a hole formed in the gib I9. It will be apparent l0 from inspection of Figure 3 that the gib I9 will remain stationary with respect to the flange II, and may be adjusted through the machine screw 20 to vary the frictional contact between the reel support I 3 and the base 9. It will also be ap- 15 parent that the screw 2D may be adjusted so as to cause the gib I9 to clamp the reel support I2 in locked position with respect to the reel base 9.

It will be understood that this invention may be applied to any suitable type of shing reel, in 20 which the winding-in of the line is effected manually, and in which the spool of the reel rotates freely when pull is applied to the line. As previously stated, the object of the invention is to level the line during a winding-in operation. To 25 effect this purpose the reel crank 22, provided with they usual crank handle 23, has suitably secured thereto a mutilated gear 24. The teeth 25 of the gear 24 mesh during a portion of the rotation of the crank 22, with the teeth of a spur gear 30 26, which is suitably secured to one end of a screw shaft 21 journaled at its opposite ends in brackets 28 and 29 depending from the housings I5 and I6 of the reel IIJ. The shaft 21 is provided with oppositely pitched grooves or threads 30 35 joined at their opposite ends by grooves 3| designed to reverse the traverse of the reel I0 with respect to the reel base 9.

To effect the lateral movement of the reel Il) with respect to the base 9, the base 9 has formed 40 thereon a sleeve 32 which ts snugly and slidably over the shaft 21. The base 9 is provided near the center thereof with an internally screwthreaded aperture 33, in which is adjustably mounted a screw 34 having a stud 35 projecting 45 into the grooves 30 of the shaft 21.

In the operation of this device, it will be apparent that as the crank handle 23 is operated to wind in the line, the teeth 25 on the mutilated gear 24 will engage the teeth on the spur gear 26 50 to rotate the latter and the shaft 21 sufficiently to shift the reel laterally of the rod 4 to maintain the pull of the line always at right angles to th-e aXis of the spool of said reel. So long as the winding operation continues, the reel as a 55 whole will be moved intermittently in one direction or the other transversely of the rod, so as to maintain the direction of pull of the line constantly at right angles to the axis of the spool.

When the line is pulled out, the spool will rotate freely in the housing in the outward direction. It is quite possible that the line will not be exactly centered over the rod, when a Winding-in operation is started. However, one or two turns of the crank handle Will straighten out the line and arrange it so that its pull is effected directly over the axis of the rod and at right angles to the spool.

It is to be understood that the invention is not to be considered as limited to the specific construction and arrangement described herein, since it is evident that many changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the claims appended hereto.

What I claim is:

1. A rod, a reel base fixed tov said rod, a reel mounted to slide on said base transversely of said rod, and means for intermittently sliding said reel on said base.

2. A rod, a reel base fixed to said rod, a reel mounted to slide on said base transversely of said rod, and means for intermittently sliding said reel in opposite directions on said base.

3. A rod, a reel base xed to said rod, a reel frame mounted to slide on said base at right angles to the axis of said rod, a mutilated g'ear rotatable with the spool of said reel, a shaft journaled in said frame parallel to the axis of the reel spool and having intersecting oppositely inclined threads thereon, a gear on said shaft located to mesh with the teeth of said mutilated gear, and a pin on said base engaging said threads to effect intermittent sliding movement of said reel frame on said base by rotation of said shaft through engagement of the teeth of said gears.

4. In fishing tackle, a rod, a base fixed to said rod and having a guide groove extending at right angles to the axis, a reel frame having a tongue slidable in said groove, and cooperating means on said base and frame operable by Winding of the reel in one direction to slide the frame intermittently in opposite directions on said base.

5. -In shing tackle, a rod, a reel base xed to said rod, a reel frame mounted to slide in opposite directions on said base at right angles to the axis of said rod, cooperating means on said base and rod for intermittently sliding the reel on said base.

6. In iishing tackle, a rod, a reel base xed to said rod, a reel frame mounted to slide in opposite directions on said base at right angles to the axis of said rod, cooperating means on said base and rod for intermittently sliding the reel on said base, and means for locking the reel frame in any desired position on said base.

FREDERICK MARTIN GRIETEN. 

